Performance testing of a vehicle is common prior to placing the vehicle into use, for example, in the aerospace industry. For example, performance characteristics of components (e.g., wing assemblies) of an aircraft need to be observed and/or recorded during flight.
Various methods are employed to monitor inflight performance characteristics. For example, a camera may be mounted inside the cabin or in the tail of the aircraft to record performance of a wing test in flight conditions. However, interior cameras often fail to provide optimum viewing angles of the desired component. As another example, to record performance of a wing test in flight conditions, a chase aircraft may carry a camera. However, cameras mounted on chase aircraft lack image stability and/or suitable image resolution. A camera mounted externally on the aircraft and displaced from tested component may provide suitable viewing angles, but experience airflow-induced vibrations that degrade resulting image quality.
Accordingly, those skilled in the art continue with research and development efforts in the field of monitoring and/or recording performance characteristics of a vehicle, such an aircraft in flight conditions.